The Official *Technics SL-1200* Owners Club

hiwattnick said:
Oops, sorry. I didn’t see your other post until after I sent my last one. I can honestly say that I’ve never emailed kevin without a response within 24 hrs, but usually much more quickly. Even at like 9:00pm a couple of times. He’s definitely passionate about what he does, and backs up everything with awesome customer service. He’s just a good dude.

Ooo, you’re doing the hard part now, but it looks like you’ve got everything that’s necessary to do the rewire correctly. Making sure that the collar of the Headshell sits straight is very important to setting the azimuth. Otherwise it’ll be near impossible to get the cantilever straight, like we chatted about before. Here’s a vid about setting the azimuth. This guy took it too far though. You don’t need to remove the entire base of the tonearm.
Click to expand...
Well that was a lot of fun, thank God for magnification. And Nick I appreciate that video. I have actually seen that before. Using a square to align the top and bottom notches is a great idea. After a painstaking alignment process. I put on a new 200 Gram Stevie Ray Vaughan. Then a very old John Mayall live. And currently a new 200 g Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here. Listening To Shine On You Crazy Diamond right now. Unfortunately I live in a multi-family home and it's 9:30 on the East Coast. So I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to really give it a listen. What I do notice immediately is that little bit of hollow background seems to be gone. It has a little more of a solid feel to it.
Couple of days ago I came across an article about phono preamp gain. There was a mathematical formula that I used to determine where I should set the gain based on my cartridge. I have a Schiit Mani pre at the moment. It has four gain options 30 DB, 42 DB, 48 DB and 59 DB. I started using it on 30 DB before I read this article. However my math worked out to 46 DB. So I changed it to 48. Something didn't sound right at 42 but I may revisit that. Seeing how I fall between two settings. So when I bumped it up 48, the sort of hollow sound stood out a lot more.
As far as the bearing, I am running the thrust plate without the plastic gear. I'm going to try to get ahold of Kevin and see if I should change my spindle to an updated one. Or just leave it as is. If I twist my kab record clamp it comes right off without pulling out the spindle. The weight of the platter wins. I decided to hold off on the wax mod until I'm sure of what I'm going to do.
By the way these saxophones sound amazing. More to come tomorrow.
John
 
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Head Tech said:
Well that was a lot of fun, thank God for magnification. And Nick I appreciate that video. I have actually seen that before. Using a square to align the top and bottom notches is a great idea. After a painstaking alignment process. I put on a new 200 Gram Stevie Ray Vaughan. Then a very old John Mayall live. And currently a new 200 g Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here. Listening To Shine On You Crazy Diamond right now. Unfortunately I live in a multi-family home and it's 9:30 on the East Coast. So I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to really give it a listen. What I do notice immediately is that little bit of hollow background seems to be gone. It has a little more of a solid feel to it.
Couple of days ago I came across an article about phono preamp gain. There was a mathematical formula that I used to determine where I should set the gain based on my cartridge. I have a Schiit Mani pre at the moment. It has four gain options 30 DB, 42 DB, 48 DB and 59 DB. I started using it on 30 DB before I read this article. However my math worked out to 46 DB. So I changed it to 48. Something didn't sound right at 42 but I may revisit that. Seeing how I fall between two settings. So when I bumped it up 48, the sort of hollow sound stood out a lot more.
As far as the bearing, I am running the thrust plate without the plastic gear. I'm going to try to get ahold of Kevin and see if I should change my spindle to an updated one. Or just leave it as is. If I twist my kab record clamp it comes right off without pulling out the spindle. The weight of the platter wins. I decided to hold off on the wax mod until I'm sure of what I'm going to do.
By the way these saxophones sound amazing. More to come tomorrow.
John
Click to expand...
John,
I’m so glad you got the rewire done. When you’re able to turn it up a bit more, I’m sure you’ll hear more of the sonic upgrade it achieves. The old wire was plated in tin which dulls the sound. Now you’ve got OFC Litz wire going through your tonearm which is also dampened by the arm tube and cotton. The first thing I noticed was much better dynamics overall, and your description of a more solid sound seems right on point.
I keep meanings to try a Schiit Mani, which I have read nothing but stellar reviews about and for only $130, why wouldn’t you try one? I’m in the process of building an EAR 834 phono pre clone right now. If it doesn’t give me what I’m looking for, I’ll probably pick up a Schiit Mani and call it a day.
I’m sure Kevin will be able to point you in the right direction. Even though the bearings have been discontinued, you can still find em pretty inexpensively. That may be your best bet seeing as how you need anew thrust plate anyway. I’m sure the KAB version is much better than the stock version anyway.
Very cool your moving so quickly with getting a fully modded 1200 up and going.
Awesome, man! Keep me posted.
 
Head Tech said:
Well that was a lot of fun, thank God for magnification. And Nick I appreciate that video. I have actually seen that before. Using a square to align the top and bottom notches is a great idea. After a painstaking alignment process. I put on a new 200 Gram Stevie Ray Vaughan. Then a very old John Mayall live. And currently a new 200 g Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here. Listening To Shine On You Crazy Diamond right now. Unfortunately I live in a multi-family home and it's 9:30 on the East Coast. So I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to really give it a listen. What I do notice immediately is that little bit of hollow background seems to be gone. It has a little more of a solid feel to it.
Couple of days ago I came across an article about phono preamp gain. There was a mathematical formula that I used to determine where I should set the gain based on my cartridge. I have a Schiit Mani pre at the moment. It has four gain options 30 DB, 42 DB, 48 DB and 59 DB. I started using it on 30 DB before I read this article. However my math worked out to 46 DB. So I changed it to 48. Something didn't sound right at 42 but I may revisit that. Seeing how I fall between two settings. So when I bumped it up 48, the sort of hollow sound stood out a lot more.
As far as the bearing, I am running the thrust plate without the plastic gear. I'm going to try to get ahold of Kevin and see if I should change my spindle to an updated one. Or just leave it as is. If I twist my kab record clamp it comes right off without pulling out the spindle. The weight of the platter wins. I decided to hold off on the wax mod until I'm sure of what I'm going to do.
By the way these saxophones sound amazing. More to come tomorrow.
John
Click to expand...
Hey John,
Just wanted to show you a couple of things I found on fleabay I think you might be interested in. First is this new version spindle bearing that looks to be in great condition for only $25:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Technics-1200-1210-MK2-Turntable-Shaft-and-Spindle-/123163081337
Secondly, I thought you’d get a kick outta seeing someone else’s attempt at a spindle thrust plate. The KAB version is clearly much superior in design and I’m sure this one’s prob not made of delrin. Haha
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bearing-Bu...1200MK2-motor-please-read-fully-/183200507984
I’m sure you’re probably still at work, but please do let me know what ya think of the tonearm rewire.
Good luck with everything, John!
- Nick
 
hiwattnick said:
Hey John,
Just wanted to show you a couple of things I found on fleabay I think you might be interested in. First is this new version spindle bearing that looks to be in great condition for only $25:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Technics-1200-1210-MK2-Turntable-Shaft-and-Spindle-/123163081337
Secondly, I thought you’d get a kick outta seeing someone else’s attempt at a spindle thrust plate. The KAB version is clearly much superior in design and I’m sure this one’s prob not made of delrin. Haha
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bearing-Bu...1200MK2-motor-please-read-fully-/183200507984
I’m sure you’re probably still at work, but please do let me know what ya think of the tonearm rewire.
Good luck with everything, John!
- Nick
Click to expand...
Well, things just got real interesting. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't hear it with my own ears. Now I'm not saying it sounds like they went out and got a high-end tube amplifier. What I will say it's now allowing me to truly hear what I have. I started off by listening to some of my newer records. They sounded great, but they sounded really good before. It wasn't until I put on a couple of records that I bought used for $4. Even though I deep clean them and coated them with groove glide, these particular ones sounded really scratchy or staticy. This is where I realized the real Improvement. These records are no longer noisy. They actually sound really good. Also when I took the tone on from the rest to bring it over to the record and back, I could hear static which I assumed was coming from the surface of the record. I was wrong, it is now dead silent and wow what a pleasure it is. I didn't realize how much that was bothering me and affecting the sound.
I also want to note that I dropped the preamp gain from 48 to 42. Which I didn't like before but now it sounds right. 48 db sounded too hot. 42 is much smoother.
As far as the bearing, I installed the plate. Left off the plastic gear and I'm having absolutely no issue with it. Now that I see an alternative to the kab thrust plate I can appreciate what I have.
 
Head Tech said:
Well, things just got real interesting. I wouldn't believe it if I didn't hear it with my own ears. Now I'm not saying it sounds like they went out and got a high-end tube amplifier. What I will say it's now allowing me to truly hear what I have. I started off by listening to some of my newer records. They sounded great, but they sounded really good before. It wasn't until I put on a couple of records that I bought used for $4. Even though I deep clean them and coated them with groove glide, these particular ones sounded really scratchy or staticy. This is where I realized the real Improvement. These records are no longer noisy. They actually sound really good. Also when I took the tone on from the rest to bring it over to the record and back, I could hear static which I assumed was coming from the surface of the record. I was wrong, it is now dead silent and wow what a pleasure it is. I didn't realize how much that was bothering me and affecting the sound.
I also want to note that I dropped the preamp gain from 48 to 42. Which I didn't like before but now it sounds right. 48 db sounded too hot. 42 is much smoother.
As far as the bearing, I installed the plate. Left off the plastic gear and I'm having absolutely no issue with it. Now that I see an alternative to the kab thrust plate I can appreciate what I have.
Click to expand...
Oh, man! That’s awesome! Isn’t it crazy how much of a difference the rewire makes? Your dead on by saying that you can now hear what you own for gear. You’d think that Technics would figure this out. They already made such a good turntable, which could have truly been a thing of greatness right outta the box by something as simple as upgrading the tonearm wires. I wouldn’t even trade my upgraded 1200 for a newer series G, GR, or GAE. I like it that much. Everything your describing about your records is very similar to the experience I had too. I actually had to walk away and relisten a few times to make sure that I wasn’t just hearing what I wanted to hear instead of what I was actually hearing.
That’s very cool about your phono pre too. Setting the correct impedance isn’t always an easy thing. The Schiit Mani is great anyway from what I’ve read.
Glad you figured out the bearing thing too. That other thrust plate is clearly a piece of garbage. Haha!
Definitely keep in touch, John. I wanna hear more about your Hi-Fi exploits!
It’s been a great journey though so far, my friend!
- Nick
 
I have a 1210 MK5. Is the platter unpainted edge (dots, rim, edge etc) anodized?
I'm wondering how to shine up the aluminum without ruining the protective anodize coating (if it is anodized).
Mine is a little dull.
Thanks
 
I am looking for LOMC cartridge recommendation under $500 for this table. I just picked up a Denon HA-500 to use with it. I was thinking about getting a DL-103D. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
No. You can act with round movement to polish then remove the paste until it shine....enjoy it...it’s a long but satisfying job
 
Should I use spacer above the cartridge with a Denon 103R? The Technics manual says for a 15mm cartridge height to set the arm at a Zero height. I thought I read read somewhere about 17.5 being the minimum for the MK2. At a 17.5 height the manual says to use the 2.5 on the scale. I am thinking the Zero is correct but will it sound better with a spacer?
 
Mark 1234 if you can get your hands on a DL-103D you wont be disappointed. I have one I was running on a EPA-250 tonearm. Well regarded vintage Denon cartridge. Another Denon MC is the DL-303.
 
Got one from CL today for $100. I used these in radio for YEARS and, knowing them. can find nothing wrong with this one. Clear, mar-free dust cover, speed good, controls good, cables good. Stanton 600 with accompanying stylus. I have a Shure 97 on another sled but haven't fired it up yet. I'll have to break out the Adcom pre for that.
 
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Mark 1234 said:
Should I use spacer above the cartridge with a Denon 103R? The Technics manual says for a 15mm cartridge height to set the arm at a Zero height. I thought I read read somewhere about 17.5 being the minimum for the MK2. At a 17.5 height the manual says to use the 2.5 on the scale. I am thinking the Zero is correct but will it sound better with a spacer?
Click to expand...
I own the SL-1210GR. Its mat is 3mm. The manual states that a 17mm height cart, measured from stylus tip to cart top requires a 0 VTA setting to level cart mounted to Technics supplied headshell. I mounted a 15mm high Shure V15V-MR, measured from bottom to top of cartridge body, to the Technics headshell adding a 2mm spacer. To level this cart required an adjustment of the VTA to 0. The cart appears to be level; and, aligned to the Technics tracking scheme, it sounds undistorted. I have two other Shure cartridges, which are 15mm in height, measured from bottom to top of cartridge body. I suppose I will mount those adding a 2mm spacer.
 
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Have any of you guys used a Sumiko Blue Point no. 2 on your SL-1200? How did it sound?
I have an old original Blue Point, and I can get a "retip" (exchange, really) from Needle Doctor for $300.
 
Add me to this list (although technically I've been a listener for years). Now the count is four TTs; Dual CS 1246, Garrard DD75, GT-15, and now Technics sl-1200Mk2 with Shure V15.
 
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